Wednesday, 11 July 2012

Presenter: We spoke to Gavin Gray about the way the British media reported Stephen Birch's investigations into the final resting place of Madeleine McCann and Stephen's on the line to us again. You've had an update from the Portuguese police Stephen?

Stephen Birch: I have err.. John. I spoke early this morning with senior directorate of the Portuguese police and we confirmed that I submitted err.. further evidence, which I provided them with this morning, errr.. showing that the search of Casa Liliana was not up to scratch and they have submitted that to err...prosecuting err.. division, who err..they are currently waiting for, for the approval to reopen the case err..I suggested to them very quickly that I would provide them with drawings as to where they should excavate, but they are insisting I fly back to Portugal the minute the case is reopened and supervise the excavation err...Although it hasn't been publicly released, err..that's good news for me.

Presenter: So, you sense that they're not dismissing your claims out of hand?

Stephen Birch: No, most definitely not. I think the public pressure and the fact that the entire Portuguese, Spanish and the world has got to see the possibility that this could be the err...Madeleine McCann's resting place in the back of the Murat property, underneath the rear driveway. Err...it needs to be solved, one way or another and they wanted us to search that driveway.

Presenter: Poisoned fruit, Stephen: the doctrine of poisoned fruit? That the police cannot get search warrants on any information that was illegally obtained. You've acknowledged getting the information through trespass. Does this pose a potential problem?

Stephen Birch: I don't think so. I think the magnitude of the case and I think the fact that Robert Murat has not pressed charges against me and the enormous err err... outcry from the public to solve one of the world's biggest cases, err.. is a massive over-riding factor and I think they want to put this thing to bed, one way or another. We lift that driveway, we see whether that girl is underneath that driveway. If she isn't we move onto something else, but..

Presenter: If she isn't, you move onto something else and once again you've put someone in the spotlight who maintains his innocence. And perhaps there is legal action. More seriously, legal action waiting for you.

Stephen Birch: Well, let me make it very clear. I have never, ever accused Robert Murat of anything, err...you know. We submitted a YouTube video, Stephen Birch, to Madeleine McCann's family and to Robert Murat and his attorneys, who are scrutinising the validity of the work we've done on the property and in that err..YouTube video, we are categorically stating, as a disclaimer, that under no circumstances, have we ever accused Robert Murat or his family or do we believe that he is involved in the abduction and killing of Madeleine McCann.

According to the Portuguese daily, Correio da Manha, little Maddie's body is to be found in the garden of the only suspect the authorities had in their sights, Robert Murat. Stephen Birch, a South African businessman, has allegedly discovered the resting place of the little girl's body. The case has been archived since 2008, but the police have aleady reopened an investigation to verify the information.

A South African researcher ensures that the body of Madeleine McCann is buried in the yard of Robert Murat, in the Algarve. Stephen Birch wrote to Scotland Yard and the Judicial Police to tell their discoveries.

Speaking to the "Morning Post" claimed to have detected all the 60 cm depth. His suspicions were confirmed by images taken by a "geo-radar" of the British police.

The newspaper writes that an international expert, contacted by the investigator, said he had no doubt that there is an object buried in the area concerned.

While in Praia da Luz, Birch oversaw the Murat house 24 hours a day, with the help of two assistants and even four times to enter the yard at night.

In his statements to the newspaper does not make accusations, ensuring that their aim is to discover where the body was buried, because "once removed, will be much easier to solve this case." The South African believes that in time, Murat's house was not "investigated in the most correct."

Madeleine disappeared a few days before to four years, May 3, 2007, the room where he slept with the two twin brothers, the youngest, in an apartment in a resort in Praia da Luz in the Algarve.